QA Engineer - Load Testing Specialist (2 months contract)

Position Overview Monolith AI is seeking an experienced QA Engineer to lead load testing efforts for a critical system release focused on improving concurrency and high request load handling. This fast-paced, short- term engagement requires someone who can quickly understand complex distributed systems, design comprehensive load tests, and work collaboratively with a rapidly growing engineering team to ensure our new environment meets performance requirements. Primary Responsibilities

• Design and Implement Automated Load Testing Framework ◦ Develop comprehensive load tests for FastAPI endpoints, Temporal workflows/ activities, and AWS service interactions ◦ Create realistic test scenarios simulating concurrent workflow execution patterns, including graph-based workflow orchestration ◦ Build automated test suites that measure system behavior under varying concurrency levels and request loads
• Performance Analysis and Bottleneck Identification ◦ Monitor and analyze system performance across the entire stack (API layer, Temporal workers, AWS services) ◦ Identify concurrency limitations in Temporal workflow execution, AWS service limits (Athena, ECS), and inter-component communication ◦ Document performance characteristics including response times, throughput limits, and failure modes under load
• Collaborate on Non-Functional Requirements (NFR) Definition ◦ Work with Customer Success and Product teams to understand business requirements and translate them into measurable performance criteria ◦ Iterate on acceptable concurrency thresholds, latency targets, and throughput requirements◦ Validate that proposed NFRs are realistic and achievable given architectural constraints
• System Documentation and Knowledge Extraction ◦ Understanding of the existing system through code review, discussions with the development team, and exploratory testing ◦ Create clear documentation of test methodologies, results, and recommendations for future testing
• Recommendation and Optimization Guidance ◦ Provide actionable recommendations for removing identified bottlenecks ◦ Suggest configuration optimizations for Temporal (worker pools, task queues) and AWS services (Athena concurrency, ECS capacity)
• Rapid Communication and Status Reporting ◦ Maintain daily/frequent communication with the Tech Lead regarding project progress, blockers, and findings ◦ Quickly escalate issues that could impact the aggressive timeline ◦ Present findings and recommendations to technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Cross-Component Integration Testing ◦ Test complex scenarios involving graph execution triggering node workflows across multiple system boundaries ◦ Validate S3 read/write operations under concurrent load ◦ Ensure inter-component communication (API → Temporal, Temporal Activity → API triggers) performs reliably at scale Key Performance Indicators
• Test Coverage and Execution ◦ Complete automated load test suite covering all critical components within first 3 weeks ◦ Execute baseline and progressive load tests identifying maximum sustainable concurrency levels
• Bottleneck Identification and Impact ◦ Identify and document top 5-7 performance bottlenecks with clear impact analysis ◦ Provide actionable remediation recommendations with estimated effort and impact for each bottleneck 3. NFR Definition and Validation ◦ Collaborate with stakeholders to define measurable NFRs within first 2 weeks ◦ Validate system meets or document gaps against agreed NFR criteria by project end
• Documentation and Knowledge Transfer ◦ Deliver comprehensive test documentation, results analysis, and system performance characteristics ◦ Conduct knowledge transfer sessions ensuring team can maintain and extend testing framework
• Project Velocity and Communication ◦ Meet weekly milestone targets in this fast-paced 2-month engagement ◦ Maintain proactive communication rhythm (daily standups, weekly detailed reports to Tech Lead)

Required Qualifications

Experience:

• 4+ years of experience in QA/performance testing roles
• 2+ years of hands-on experience with load testing distributed systems and microservices architectures
• Proven experience with load testing tools (e.g., k6, JMeter, Locust, Gatling, Artillery)
• Experience testing workflow orchestration systems (Temporal, Airflow, Prefect, or similar)
• Demonstrated ability to test systems integrating with AWS services (particularly Athena, ECS, S3) Technical Skills:
• Strong proficiency in Python (required for test automation and working with FastAPI/ Temporal)
• Experience with REST API testing and performance validation
• Understanding of distributed systems concepts: concurrency, queueing, backpressure, rate limiting
• Familiarity with AWS infrastructure and service limits• Experience with monitoring and observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, or similar)
• Proficiency with Git and CI/CD pipelines
• Ability to read and understand code in order to design effective tests Immediate Availability:
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